A. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to materials used as barriers to protect waterproofing or roofing membranes from damage during and after the installation of these membranes. More particularly, the invention concerns a protection course that may be delivered and stored in a rolled form that is made using scrap asphalt roofing.
B. Background
In the roofing and waterproofing industries, sheet membranes are often installed in areas where they are exposed to environments that can puncture, tear, or otherwise damage the integrity of the sheet. For example, waterproofing membranes are applied to almost all the below-grade portions of foundation walls, to plaza decks, and to bridge decks. A puncture of a waterproofing membrane can require costly excavation and extensive repair or replacement work on the damaged portion to restore the integrity of the waterproofing system. Generally, a protection course is installed above or adjacent to the membrane surface to prevent punctures and allow work to proceed above or adjacent to the membrane. Similarly, protection course is used above ground to protect membranes from damage at most construction sites.
Protection courses have been manufactured from a variety of materials including asphaltic and bituminous compositions. It is important that a protection course be strong and puncture resistant to help prevent damage to the underlying membrane. As such, protection courses have typically been manufactured as rigid boards. The boards are laid on top of, or adjacent to, the waterproof membrane in areas where the membrane installation is complete. Additional protection board is installed as more membrane is installed. An applicator cuts each board as required to completely cover and protect the installed membrane.
Protection boards are typically standard sizes, either three feet by five feet, or four feet by eight feet, and may be xe2x85x9 or xc2xc thick (which are standard sizes in the industry). The boards are stacked and sold as a unit. The maximum coverage area of a commercial unit of rigid protection board is 32 square feet, not accounting for the amount of useable board lost when cutting the board to fit an application.
A drawback to existing protection courses is that the rigid form of the boards makes transport and storage cumbersome. Installation of the rigid boards is inefficient. While waterproofing and roofing membranes may be rolled out or applied as liquid, the boards must be individually carried from the storage area resulting in additional labor and time. Also, during application, much of the useable protection board surface may be lost when the boards are trimmed to fit the application.
A separate problem in the roofing industry is the problem of how to dispose of waste materials from the production of new asphalt roofing products, and from the removal of used or scrap materials when asphalt shingles or similar roofing materials are removed from a roof.
Asphaltic roofing products typically include organic (felt) or inorganic (fiberglass) mat saturated with asphalt to make the roofing product waterproof to which additional protective coatings of asphalt and mineral surfacing are added. Shingles are produced in flat sheets or strips designed for ease of installation. Generally, the shingles include tabs, or cutouts, that provide flexibility and enhance the appearance of the portion of the shingle that is exposed after installation. To produce tabbed asphaltic shingles, a flat sheet or strip is manufactured and then cut and trimmed into final form which generates waste material. In the past, this waste material has not been reused in a marketable product and has presented a disposal problem.
Rolled roofing, that is similar in composition to asphaltic shingles, has been known in the industry. Roll roofing is usually applied to a substrate by a heating process or using adhesives. Rolled roofing is used on roofs and as siding. Recently, rolled roofing has been used as protection course.
It is difficult to use roll-roofing type products as protection course, since both the adhesive and hot-applied processes can have detrimental effects on waterproofing membranes and can result in costly membrane failures. Further, if the rolled product is not adhered it is subject to rolling up because of the asphalt xe2x80x9cmemoryxe2x80x9d of its rolled condition. Finally, the barrier can be displaced by construction traffic leaving the membrane exposed and subject to puncture
The present invention overcomes problems with the roofing and waterproofing industries by providing a protection course made of asphalt shingle and roofing scrap in a rolled form. The rolled protection course can be transported, stored, and used in an efficient manner by the roofing and waterproofing trades. In addition, the invention reduces disposal expense and new material costs by using waste materials.
More specifically, the invention reduces the time and labor involved with installation of a protection course. This is especially useful in labor-intensive waterproofing applications such as foundations, decks, and bridge decks. An applicator may easily follow the installation of membrane by unrolling the protection course as a barrier to preserve the membrane. As an area is completed, the applicator need only cut the end of the roll, and store the roll where his next application is to begin. Asphalt xe2x80x9cmemoryxe2x80x9d in the protection barrier is reduced hindering roll up after installation. As such, the use of adhesives or hot application is unnecessary with the rolled protection course of the present invention.
The rolled form of the protection course also increases the useable area per commercial unit. For example, while a commercial unit of rigid protection board generally covers at most 32 square feet, the rolled protection course of the current invention covers approximately 100 square feet in xe2x85x9 inch thickness, and approximately 50 square feet in xc2xc inch thickness. Thus while the overall size of a commercial unit of the rolled protection course is less than the size of a corresponding commercial unit of rigid board, the unit of rolled protection course provides greater coverage area.